Height matters: practicing consumer agency,gender, and body politics

The significance of body and gender in the formation of consumers’ identities and agencies has been widely scrutinized. Nevertheless, this study argues that this formation is not fully understood, unless the role of height is taken into account. It leans on a practice-based perspective and critical auto-ethnographic methodology so as to examine how a distinct agency is fabricated for a short-sized female body by a whole range of social, material, and sensory practices that are continuously enacted across various domains of life. It thereby adds to the existing literature on body, gender, and consumer agency by way of incorporating height into critical inquiries this far mostly concerned with weight; by way of materializing and sensorializing the fabrication of an embodied consumer agency this far addressed in visual terms; and by way of considering everyday life as the site in which it continuously unfolds. These insights bear important implications for the development of body politics.     

Teens' consumer interaction styles: the impact of assertive and aggressive behaviour on attitudes towards marketing practices

Over half‐billion global teens between the ages of 13 and 18 years represent a dynamic opportunity for marketers who wish to grow their businesses and build consumer loyalty. Consumer interaction styles are the consistent behaviour patterns that individuals employ in transactions or exchanges in the marketplace. Assertiveness and aggressiveness represent two distinct interaction styles that enable individuals to achieve a desired outcome. Because teen consumers are an important consumer segment and subscribe to the notion that their voices must be heard, understanding their interaction styles is necessary for businesses and marketers. The purpose of this study was to examine teens' consumer interaction styles according to specific demographic and lifestyle characteristics and investigate the impact of assertive and aggressive interaction styles on attitudes towards marketing practices (i.e. product, retailing, advertising, and pricing). Data were collected from a US teen sample (n = 467) at both rural and urban high schools. Independent t‐tests compared the propensity of teens' assertive and aggressive consumer interaction styles according to specific demographic and lifestyle characteristics. Structural Equation Modeling using AMOS 6.0 program was performed to test the hypothesized relationships. Results indicated that an assertive interaction style was pervasive among US teen consumers, while the aggressive interaction style had disparities according to unique demographic and lifestyle characteristics. Assertive and aggressive interaction styles demonstrated negative influences on teen consumers' attitudes towards products and retailing practices. By interpreting the negative impact of teens' assertive and aggressive consumer interaction styles, marketers can develop effective strategies that appeal to this demanding consumer.     

Focus groups: history,epistemology and non-individualistic consumer research

This paper provides an overview of the development and application of focus groups. It rethinks the conventional history associated with this approach in at least four ways. We reinsert a forgotten pioneer of focus groups, Herta Herzog, into our narrative. Secondly, we trace the emergence of group-based research to the work of applied psychologists in the early twentieth century and argue that the conditions of possibility for the uptake of this method were contingent on the asking of “why” questions. We follow the thread of “why” questions from the applied psychologists through to motivation research and the promotion of focus groups by Herzog to practitioners. Exploring the literature on motivation research unearths a further novel contribution: we excavate the use of “interpretative focus groups” by this community of practice. In addition, our close reading of motivation research and focus groups permits us to problematise the distinctions made by Calder [1977. “Focus Groups and the Nature of Qualitative Marketing Research.” Journal of Marketing Research 14: 353–364]. We subsequently trace the uptake of this methodology in the tobacco industry as a means of making an epistemological and political argument for the greater use of focus groups. Initially, we do so by charting the rise of social constructionism and non-individualistic consumer research. This enables us to navigate the highways and byways of discursive psychology, interpretive research, Consumer Culture Theory and on to feminist and Critical Marketing Studies. The engagement with focus groups with respect to the latter traditions is woefully underdeveloped. Our political argument is that focus group methodology can speak to the interests of many constituents in marketing theory and practice. It is not wedded to any specific social or political agenda. This means that its potential contribution to the study of consumption, markets and culture is multi-faceted.     

Culture,cognitive style and consumer response to informational vs. transformational advertising among East Asians: Evidence from the PRC

Existing literature suggests that people's cognitive styles vary significantly across nations and cultures, and that East Asians emphasize holistic information processing and are more receptive to transformational advertising than people in the West. Yet, both theoretical rationale and empirical evidence of the effect of cognitive style on consumers' advertising responses are lacking. This study proposes a congruency-activation model and adopts a three by two experimental design to examine Chinese consumers' attitude towards different advertisements. The results indicate that Chinese consumers prefer transformational and integrated ads to informational ads under both low and high involvement conditions. Protocol analysis shows that Chinese consumers engage in more affective processing than cognitive thoughts. Thus, marketers should consider the effect of the cognitive style of indigenous consumers when devising international advertising strategies.     

Interactive music for multisensory e-commerce: The moderating role of online consumer involvement in experiential value,cognitive value,and purchase intention

Background music adds a multisensory element to marketing and e-commerce. Applying interactive sensory-enabling technologies (SETs) to online shopping websites is an area of interest in sensory marketing. This research examines interactive background music in e-commerce and investigates how online consumer involvement moderates the effects of interactive music. Single-factor experiments with three conditions (interactive music, static background music, and control) were conducted to investigate its impact on experiential value, cognitive value, and purchase intention of high- and low-involvement consumers among both students (Study 1, N = 251) and nonstudent samples (Study 2, N = 218). Different music genres were applied to stimuli of the two studies to demonstrate the generalizability of the findings. Results find that interactive music enhances the experiential value of e-commerce for low-involvement consumers. By contrast, high-involvement consumers show greater purchase intention under the interactive music condition due to a heightened level of perceived cognitive value. Involvement is an effective predictor of elaboration and purchase intention under the interactive music condition, but not under the other two conditions. The contribution is twofold: (a) it shows the impact of music as an interactive SET and, (b) demonstrates the moderating role of consumer involvement in the context of multisensory integration in e-commerce. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed along with limitations and directions for future research.     

Reframing gender and feminist knowledge construction in marketing and consumer research: missing feminisms and the case of men and masculinities

Abstract

Gender has been theorised and studied in many ways and across different disciplines. Although a number of these theorisations have been recognised and adopted in marketing and consumer research, the significance of feminism in knowledge construction has largely remained what we would call ‘unfinished’. Based on a critical reframing of gender research in marketing and consumer research, in dialogue with feminist theory, this article offers theoretical and practical suggestions for how to reinvigorate these research efforts. The analysis highlights dominant theorisations of gender, relating to gender as variable, difference and role; as fundamental difference and structuring; and as cultural and identity constructions. This reframing emphasises various neglected or ‘missing feminisms’, including queer theory; critical race, intersectional and transnational feminisms; material-discursive feminism; and critical studies on men and masculinities. A more detailed discussion of the latter, as a relatively new, growing and politically contentious area, is further developed to highlight more specifically which feminist and gender theories are mainly in use in marketing and consumer research and which are little or not used. In the light of this, it is argued that marketing and related disciplines have thus far largely neglected several key contemporary gender and feminist theorisations, particularly those that centre on gender power relations. The potential impact of these theoretical frames on transdisciplinary studies in marketing and consumer research and research agenda(s) is discussed.     

The impact of consumer confusion from eco-labels on negative WOM,distrust, and dissatisfaction

For decades companies have added eco-labels to products to gain a competitive advantage and inform consumers about the environmental impact of products. Although benefits of eco-labels have been investigated previously, negative outcomes related to the proliferation of these labels have not been studied until this point. This study investigates the impact of eco-labels on a variety of forms of consumer confusion, specifically studying whether this confusion has a direct or indirect effect on negative word-of-mouth, distrust, and dissatisfaction, as mediated by negative emotion. The results from a quasi-experimental field study that employs a between-subject design from the food and detergent industries show that similarity, overload, and ambiguity confusion lead to negative emotion, negative word-of-mouth, distrust, and dissatisfaction. This study also shows that negative emotion mediates the effect of three confusion constructs on dependent variables, such as negative word-of-mouth, distrust, and dissatisfaction. This study presents theoretical and practical implications, limitations, and future research avenues in the areas of consumer confusion and eco-labeling.     

Young consumers in the digital era: The selfie effect

This article investigates a mechanism named the selfie effect. By their frequent sharing of selfies on social media, perhaps displaying their cool new fashions or newly acquired tattoos, young people—unintentionally—help providers to promote their products and services, and thereby contribute to the commercial pressure. The existence of a selfie effect builds on hypotheses originating from a pilot interview study concerning how young adults master the consumer role. In this article, the existence of a selfie effect is investigated in a nationally representative web survey with 1,707 respondents aged 16–60, living in Norway. While 59% of the teenagers said they were posting selfies weekly or more often, only 2% among those in their fifties did. The multivariate quantitative analyses support the idea that teenagers and young adults, frequently online, become vulnerable in the consumer role. Particularly posting selfies and following bloggers increase consumer detriment and overconsumption.     

The influences of consumer innovativeness and consumer evaluation attributes in the purchase of fashionable ethnic wear in India

This paper highlights the consumer motivations for purchase of an innovative product like fashionable ethnic wear in India. It attempts to combine consumer innovativeness constructs and consumer evaluation attributes to understand buying behaviour in fashionable ethnic wear through a consumer survey. It confirms the relationship between product usage (the number of brands bought) and ethnic wear domain‐specific innovativeness. It also explores the correlations among different dimensions of consumer innovativeness like domain‐specific innovativeness, optimum stimulation level and consumers' need for uniqueness constructs. It shows the difference in importance attached to the chosen consumer innovativeness constructs and consumer evaluation attributes by buyers and non‐buyers in the purchase process.     

Untangling the relationships between consumer characteristics,shopping values,and behavioral intention in online group buying

This study examines the link among consumer characteristics (price-sensitive behavior, variety-seeking behavior, and compulsive buying behavior), shopping values (utilitarian and hedonic shopping values), and behavioral intention in online group buying (OGB). This study tests usable responses collected by means of mall-intercept systematic sampling from consumers who previously participated in OGB. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze data and test the hypothesized relationships. Findings suggest that price-sensitive and variety-seeking behaviors are significantly related to utilitarian shopping value, whereas price-sensitive, variety-seeking, and compulsive buying behaviors are significantly related to hedonic shopping value. Both utilitarian and hedonic shopping values significantly influence consumers’ OGB intentions. For a successful OGB strategy, Internet marketers and site operators should emphasize the utilitarian shopping value of price saving and selection and introduce the hedonic shopping values of promotions and sensory experiences. This study provides a link between two streams of prior research – that is, consumer characteristics and shopping values. Furthermore, it validates an empirical model whose results can help business practitioners make better-informed marketing management decisions for OGB and help academics and consumers better understand OGB behavior.     

Understanding the effect of stigmatization on food consumer knowledge,perception and behaviour in Northern Ireland

Stigmatization has only recently been linked with the perception of risk, and research into this area has mainly concentrated on measuring the differences between nationalities, gender and socio‐economic status. The concept of stigmatization helps us understand why the public views certain places, products, technology and environments as dangerous and in a negative manner. To date, little has been done to assess the relationships between the effects of stigmatization on situations and people's decision‐making capabilities with regard to food. The aim of this research is to examine food consumers’ knowledge of food‐related risk issues to provide insight into the process of stigmatization and its relationship to food risk management, thereby improving awareness of the information consumers require from food risk communication. To meet this aim, two phases of data collection were implemented. Phase 1 used a baseline survey to investigate consumer knowledge of food‐risk‐related issues, identify how much attention consumers pay to information and what they remember about the particular issues. Factors affecting participant's recollection included how recently the event associated with the issue occurred, the level of media coverage and the reported severity of risk outcome. Phase 2 involved a follow‐up survey to investigate consumer knowledge of food risk issues and determine any changes in consumer behaviour. Research results and conclusions of Phases 1 and 2 of the study will be presented to highlight the relationships between participant recollection of particular food issues and whether knowledge of such issues caused any change in behaviour.     

Unraveling consumer suspense: The role of hope, fear, and probability fluctuations

This empirical research focuses on suspense, which is proposed to be a formative construct comprised of the emotions of hope and fear. Two measurement studies that focus on developing a scale for suspense, as well as scales for its two emotional components of hope and fear, are first presented. Next, using a 2 (approach appraisal) × 2 (avoidance appraisal) × 2 (probability fluctuation) experiment, we first show that hope and fear are valid indicators of suspense. We also determine that hope is influenced by an approach appraisal of a potential event, whereas fear is influenced by an avoidance appraisal of a potential event. Further, we demonstrate that probability fluctuation positively affects outcome uncertainty, which in turn, positively affects the anticipatory emotions of hope and fear.     

商业产业与区域经济增长关系的计量分析

利用商业产业与区域经济之间关系的简单计量方法,不仅可以研究一个国家、一个地区的商业,甚至是一个商业产业集群与区域内各个产业之间及区域经济整体之间的关系,而且可以进行跨地区的比较分析,以CD生产函数建立商业产出模型,用商业产业与相关产业互动发展和商业产业与区域经济增长率的因果关系检验,以此为商业产业发展的产业政策制定提供实行依据。     

The interplay between consumer self-view,cognitive style,and creative visual metaphors in print advertising

This paper examines the use of an advertising rhetoric technique – visual metaphor, and its persuasion effects in light of consumers’ cultural and individual dispositional characteristics when processing visually relational information. Of particular interest are the culturally driven self-views and individuals’ cognitive thinking styles. An experimental study involving visual metaphor manipulations in the context of print advertising was conducted. Results showed that, visual metaphor techniques significantly enhanced the persuasion outcomes through consumers’ evaluation of the advertising message and the brand. Both consumers’ self-construal orientation and their analytic-holistic processing style, moderate the effects of visual metaphors in print ads for low-involvement products, but not for high-involvement products. Implications for academics and practitioners, as well as future research directions suggested through the current experiment, are discussed.     

The effects of sales promotion strategy,product appeal and consumer traits on reminder impulse buying behaviour

This article investigates factors of marketing communications and consumer characteristics that induce reminder impulse buying behaviour. Study 1 applies the antecedent, process and consequence approach to investigate the essential differences between reminder impulse buying and pure impulse buying. The results of Study 1 reveal that reminder impulse buying significantly differs from pure impulse buying on motivation, buying goal and decision evaluation. Study 2 further examines how sales promotion strategy might affect reminder impulse buying, with product appeal and consumer traits as moderating factors. Both sales promotion strategy and its interaction effects with product appeal are found to have significant influences on reminder impulse buying. Specifically, an instant‐reward promotion promotes stronger reminder impulse buying than a delayed‐reward promotion. Furthermore, both a utilitarian product appeal with a price discount promotion and a hedonic product appeal with a premium promotion can encourage greater reminder impulse buying.     

Fashion consumer profiles in the Portuguese market: involvement,innovativeness, self‐expression and impulsiveness as segmentation criteria

This study identified fashion consumer profiles among Portuguese young adults. The work was based on four constructs: fashion involvement, fashion innovativeness, self‐expression through fashion products and impulsiveness. Another purpose of this study was to test these instruments in this cultural context in order to contribute to the generalizability of the scales. A cluster analysis uncovered three groups: Moderates, Apathetic and Enthusiasts. On the whole, this study proposes a new way of segmenting Portuguese fashion consumers and demonstrates that the four constructs employed can be used in different cultural contexts.     

Analysis of commercial rumors from the perspective of marketing managers: Rumor prevalence,effects, and control tactics

This study examines commercial rumors from the perspective of marketing managers. American and French respondents (N = 133) completed a rumor questionnaire intended to assess the prevalence and types of commercial rumors that reach their ear, the severity of rumor effects, the effectiveness of rumor control tactics, and the psychological and situational variables associated with rumor onset and spread. Based on a variation of the critical incidents technique involving recalled commercial rumors, the results conform to rumor theory in terms of the psychological and situational factors (i.e. anxiety, importance, credulity, and uncertainty) underlying rumor transmission, and offer support for our proposed rumor model. The findings also highlight the prevalence and potentially negative impact of rumors in marketing sectors. As an initial attempt to discern cross-cultural differences in commercial rumor activity, preliminary findings suggest differences in effectiveness of marketing communication tactics for rumor control across the two country samples studied. Overall, the provision of requested information and attempts to increase trust emerged as the most effective rumor control tactics.     

Brand engagement in self-concept and consumer engagement in social media: The role of the source

This three-group between-subjects experimental research investigates the extent to which consumer engagement with a social media branded post is directly affected by individuals’ tendency to incorporate brands as part of their self-concept (BESC) and whether this relationship is moderated by individuals’ exposure to three different post source types. Participants were exposed to one of three Instagram social media posts of a luxury brand, where the only manipulated factor was the type of source. Findings show that there is a positive relationship between BESC and post engagement. The study also shows that content source plays a moderating role in the relationship between BESC and post engagement, such that individuals with high BESC will engage significantly more with content posted by other users, compared with branded sources (brand, influencer).     

Creating consumer satisfaction in maternity care: the neglected needs of migrants,asylum seekers and refugees

An estimated 190 million people are now living outside their countries of birth or citizenship, and the rate of this migration is expected to remain high. The resulting growing cultural and ethnic diversity in societies adds specific challenges to the requirement of delivering public services such as health care to consumers. Globally, about half of the migrant population are women. Migrants’ outcomes of pregnancy are known to be poor, showing significant disparities when compared with those of native populations. Although these disparities have been noted, knowledge is limited regarding the availability and accessibility of healthcare services, as well as the acceptability of maternity care for women with experiences of free and forced migration. Healthcare research in general, and maternity care research specifically, have often neglected this population. This paper examines the existing international guidelines intended to address inequities in health outcomes, policies which have been introduced at national levels, and the widely used concepts of ‘patient‐centred’ and ‘woman‐centred’ health services. The ideals implicit in those guidelines and concepts are contrasted with the available evidence of many overseas nationals’ experiences with healthcare provisions in general, and maternity care in particular. This is followed by reflections on deficiencies in current studies and on those methodological problems which make research on maternity care for migrant women particularly challenging. The conclusion considers the appropriateness and relevance of guidelines currently promoting equity in maternity care and suggests a future agenda for priority research.     

Images,reviews, and purchase intention on social commerce: The role of mental imagery vividness,cognitive and affective social presence

Images and textual reviews are central to social commerce sites. But little is known about the mechanism by which image quality and type of textual review (with personal experiences versus facts) impact consumer purchase intention on a social commerce page. We address this knowledge gap and use the stimulus-organism-response (S–O-R) framework to develop our conceptual framework. We hypothesize that image quality and type of textual review impact purchase intention through imagery vividness that functions as a stimulus. Further, imagery vividness impacts purchase intention positively in the social commerce context through social presence. Specifically, the effect of imagery vividness on purchase intention is likely to be serially mediated by cognitive social presence and affective social presence. We collect data by conducting two experiments using a social media post regarding fashion apparel for middle-aged women on Instagram and find support for our thesis.